EXHIBITION _ "The future doesn't lie in the invention of something new but rather in the reinvention of the old" _ product designer Werner Aisslinger.
The museum Haus am Waldsee is housing Aisslinger’s ideas for the “Home of the Future” until June 9th, 2013 curated by Katja Blomberg. Freed from the commercial restraints of industry, the designer can within this artistic context give free rein to his visions of utopia.
He transforms the floors of the museum into two sections. On the ground floor, he shows new installations created specifically for the house. In five different living situations, the installations display how one can utilize the latest technical materials to achieve the goal of sustainability. On the upper floor, a retrospective of the designer’s work further explores this question.
Werner Aisslinger, Upcycling & Tuning, 2013, Courtesy: studio aisslinger Photo Daniele Manduzio, Mirjam Fruscella
The “Home of the Future” like all of Werner Aisslinger's works is derived from the basic premise that the design archetypes have been defined by modernity, however the language of forms has outpaced materials development. Aisslinger amends the dictate “form follows function” with “function follows material”.
Aisslinger calls this optimization process up-cycling. For him, staying true to the materials is never just about the product, but about the entire environment. Aisslinger is looking to create a symbiotic relationship between the most innovative technology and nature. For the cantilever chair, instead of an environmentally harmful plastic, he used a newly developed, completely biodegradable, composite material.
Werner Aisslinger, Upcycling & Tuning, 2013, Courtesy und Foto: studio aisslinger
Right from the start, the exterior view of the Haus am Waldsee sets the basic tone for the exhibition – up-cycling the way we live. The brick portal is covered with a patchwork wool material which frees the house from its historical captivity. A sports car from the 1970s sheathed in the same fabric is parked in front of the facade.
In the foyer of the house, a wallpaper of photos shows glimpses of historic utopias which strove to rethink the housing and living complex. In the adjoining room, Aisslinger presents the Chair Farm. How can you plant products in plantations?Werner Aisslinger already sees the next step – plants which without any additional assistance form to the shape of a piece of furniture because it has been engineered into their DNA.
Werner Aisslinger, Chair farm, 2012, Courtesy: studio aisslinger, photo: Mirjam Fruscella, Daniele Manduzio
In the second room, elements from urban farming and aquaponics transform the kitchen into an alchemy chamber. Food is produced instead of processed, mushrooms are harvested from coffee grounds and fish excrement fertilizes a vegetable garden – all of it in a greenhouse-like shelf biotope.
The next two rooms are seeking solutions for the regeneration, recovery, retreat complex. A movable plastic mountain encloses the individual in a honeycomb structure which brings the visitor back to nature more convincingly than the basic square form.
Werner Aisslinger, Textiles Badbiotop, 2013, Courtesy: studio aisslinger, photo: Daniele Manduzio, Mirjam Fruscella
In the last room on the ground floor, Werner Aisslinger has installed soft textile bathroom elements that are flexible and moisture absorbent. The inspiration for the material comes from the Namib Desert beetle. This beetle collects and stores the morning mist for later use. Similarly, the bathroom material stores the shower steam, and then passes it on to the plants.
Modern materials and production techniques are removed from their original manufacturing purposes and used for furniture hybrids which reconcile advanced technology with the principles of nature.
Werner Aisslinger, Honeycomb Landscape, 2013, Courtesy: studio aisslinger, photo: Bernd Borchardt
Haus am Waldsee
Argentinische Allee 30
14163 Berlin
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